Good Counsel returns to familiar spot

Football: Falcons recapture No. 1 in Montgomery County

Gazette staff

Greg Dohler/The Gazette

Defenders close in on Good Counsel quarterback Bryan Strittmatter as the final drive fell short in a loss to Gilman last month.

With one dominating performance against a top Florida team, Our Lady of Good Counsel High School's football team reclaimed its usual position, atop The Gazette's football rankings in Montgomery County. Quince Orchard, which still hasn't played a game, dropped from the top spot to No. 2.

Good Counsel defeated Immokalee (Fla.) 33-0, showing it is still a contender in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference despite losing top running back Leo Ekwoge for the season to injury.

Good Counsel lost its opener, 20-14 to Gilman. The Falcons did not score any points after Ekwoge went down with the knee injury in the first half.

No. 6 Sherwood vs. No. 10 Gaithersburg, 7 p.m. Saturday at Richard Montgomery. Sherwood and Gaithersburg are the only ranked teams playing each other, and whichever playoff contender wins this matchup is poised to claim several bonus points. The game features two of the county's top running backs: Gaithersburg's Solomon Vault and Sherwood's Elijah Spottswood. Gaithersburg went 3-7 last season, and Sherwood is breaking in a new coach, Chris Grier, so both teams face big questions entering this early test.

No. 3 Douglass vs. No. 2 Wise, 7:30 p.m. Saturday at PG Sports & Learning. In past four years, Wise ranks No. 4 in the state in playoff wins and Douglass is tied for No. 7. Wise won its first title and Douglass reached its second consecutive championship game last year. Now, they'll start with a little matter of proving which is the best public-school team in Upper Marlboro.